Though Jaldabaoth appeared as a mere youth, it was simple to tell he was something much more. Breathing the same air as him would parch the throat, enflame the lungs, and poison the body. Making eye contact with him would bring about blindness, pounding headaches and endless nausea. All who prowl within the darkness fear him, for he is the lethal venom the gods sent to purge the world of evil.

Jaldabaoth is a German variant of Yaldabaoth (also known as "Yaltabaoth" or "Ialdabaoth"), a Demiurge ("creator") and maker of man and the material world. Represented as a lion-headed deity with the body of a serpent. He is the son of Sophia, the personification of wisdom in Gnosticism, which he denies; from his mother he received the light forces, but he used to do evil. The most probable derivation of the name "Yaldabaoth", "Son of Chaos", from Hebrew yalda bahut. As an archon (Greek arkhon, means "ruler" or "lord") he has three names, the second is Saklas ("fool", Syriac sækla "the foolish one"), and the third is Samael ("Blind God" or "God of the Blind" in Aramaic, Syriac sæmʻa-ʼel).